Hank Willis Thomas talks to Ben Luke about his influences—from writers to musicians and, of course, other artists—and the cultural experiences that have shaped his life and work.
Thomas, born in 1976 in Plainfield, New Jersey, is a conceptual artist whose works in various media address identity, collectivity and subjectivity, particularly in relation to race, and how these subjects shape—and are shaped by—broad phenomena, from sports, advertising and brands to art history.
Hank Willis Thomas, Guernica (2016)
Courtesy the artist and Portland Art Museum
Thomas trained as a photographer and a search for a singular powerful image underpins much of his work.
But however impactful it might be at first sight, that instant appeal is always a gateway to greater cultural and historical complexity.
Hank Willis Thomas, Branded Head (2003)
Courtesy the artist
He discusses his latest exhibition, Kinship of the Soul, and its fusion of the paintings of Romare Bearden, Aaron Douglas and Henri Matisse, the early influence of Roy DeCarava’s photographs, the importance of the Gees Bend quilters, the writing of Audre Lorde and James Baldwin, and his surprising response to the Dukes of Hazzard television show. Plus, he answers our usual questions, including the ultimate: what is art for?
- Hank Willis Thomas: Kinship of the Soul, Pace, London, until 21 December; Irving Penn: Kinship, Curated by Hank Willis Thomas, Pace, New York, until 21 December
This podcast is sponsored by Bloomberg Connects, the arts and culture app.
The free app offers access to a vast range of international cultural organisations through a single download, with new guides being added regularly. They include several of the museums across the US in which Hank Willis Thomas has had important exhibitions, from the ICA Miami in Florida, to Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, in Bentonville, Arkansas, the Cincinnati Art Museum in Ohio, and the Portland Art Museum in Oregon. If you download Bloomberg Connects, you’ll find that the guide to the Portland Art Museum has in-depth features on its current exhibitions. Hear curator Mary Weaver Chapin discuss the exhibition Psychedelic Rock Posters and Fashion of the 1960s, including posters for Jefferson Airplane and Sam and Dave, with their fanciful morphing lettering, and dramatic colours. Continuing the musical theme is the exhibition dedicated to the Beatles’ Paul McCartney’s intimate photographs from 1963 and 1964, the height of early Beatlemania. You can hear the exhibition’s curators setting the scene, and McCartney himself describing individual photographs of the band and their experiences.